A Pocket in Space
by Reyuna Yukimura
Summary: Minato isn't sure when Kakashi grew up. Kakashi thinks that he should've noticed in the three years they'd shacked up together to raise baby Naruto. Also, they are married to each other, but neither one of them realizes it. ಠ-ಠ MinatoxKakashi. R n R.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Minato isn't sure when Kakashi grew up. Kakashi thinks that he should've noticed in the three years they'd shacked up together to raise baby Naruto. Also, they are married to each other, but neither one of them realizes it. And on top of all that, why on earth do people keep inviting Kakashi to onsens and drinking parties all of a sudden? ಠ_ಠ

**Note**: I tweaked the ages a tad. Kakashi is about 7 years younger than Minato. The two men are living together in the newly created Namikaze estate so they can raise Naruto together. To Naruto, Papa and Mama = Minato and Kakashi, respectively. Suffice it to say, Minato is alive and Kakashi does not want to be called mama. Remember, this is just supposed to be like a little…fun piece. It's mostly fluff, teensy bits of angst here and there and a whole boatload of humor. At this point in time, Minato is 25, Kakashi is 18, and Naruto is almost 3 years old.

**Disclaimer: **Is Minato alive and kicking? No? Then I don't own the series :/ all I can say is, "WAHHH!"

**Warnings: **

**Bad comedy** (I think some of this stuff is funny, not sure anyone else will xD), **bad grammar and spelling** (it won't be TERRIBLE hopefully, but not good either), **possibly a little boring** (I hope not, but the plot hasn't even started yet since this is the prologue. Again, bear with me?), **possible confusion **(a lot of stuff will be explained in later chapters...but well, not here xD), **some bad language **(nothing most people shouldn't know though xD), **some OOC** (IDK...i tried to keep them in character...but I'm pretty sure I seriously deviated at some point. It's romance and humor xD more fluff and obliviousness than anything else. I think I can be forgiven as long as Minato doesn't wear a dress, without good cause, at some point), **the pairing** (this will be MinatoXKakashi. Don't complain to me about the pairing. Seriously. I will not be held responsible for my actions if you do) and finally **SLASH** (and just to make sure the point is made, **SLASH**, as in **BOYS MAKING OUT WITH/HAVING SEX WITH/BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER BOYS.** If this isn't to your liking, leave. Please.)

**Reading Key:** || Blah || – means that it's a blatant author's interjection/point of view,there will be very few of these; **bold** – dialog; _italics_ is exaggeration.

* * *

||The story begins with an absolutely amusing scene in which the Yondaime Hokage is having a miniature melt-down in the face of certain…events. As for the location of this little scene, the two were standing in the kitchen, where Minato had ambushed Kakashi just as he was about to make dinner.||

"**When did you get old enough to do **_**that**_**?"** Minato demanded as he violently shook an apathetic looking Hatake Kakashi, "**Better yet, when did you even **_**learn**_** any of this?"**

He glared at Kakashi who, for his part, merely raised his only visible eyebrow and continued reading whatever book on tactical planning or doggy care he'd picked up that week.

The silver-haired nin didn't bother to really respond because he knew Minato and he knew that the man wasn't done ranting despite phrasing everything in the interrogatory form. Oh no, not by a _long shot_; because when Namikaze Minato started ranting, one needed to let him get in his full piece before speaking. Or else, the argument would take _weird turns that did not bode well_.

A perfect example would be that one time when the newly promoted Jounin, Maito Gai, who had dared to interject before the Hokage was done. Noone knew exactly _what had happened_ or even what had been said, but after The Incident (as everyone had tentatively dubbed it), Gai had turned…off kilter. He'd gone from neat, clean and well respected to absolutely and devastatingly creepy in a matter of minutes. He'd changed his hair and his outfit had turned green, orange and _hideous;_ and then, the youth speeches and sparkles had commenced… Suffice it to say, Gai hadn't been the same since, and unfortunately neither had any shinobi who came into contact with him.

Kakashi barely suppressed a shiver at the thought of turning into something like that and decided that it would be better if he held his peace until the blond was done. After all, he had self-preservation in _spades_….and he had so much to live for! The famed jounin mentally fortified himself and quickly settled down to simply _endure_ as he was shaken like a ragdoll by a panicking Hokage.

Besides all that, he wasn't exactly positive as to what he'd done wrong to begin with. He was pretty sure that there wasn't anything he'd done recently that would require being scolded, after all. And judging by the reaction alone wasn't enough; his sensei just wasn't coherent enough to explain anything.

On top of all that, there was also the chance that this had nothing to do with him at all and was, in fact, something only Minato himself had a problem with. After all, the blond had always had strange reactions to certain events and never reacted as one would expect. Like that one time back when they'd been a genin/chunin cell and Rin had burst into tears for no apparent reason. Him and Obito had expected their sensei to calm the girl down. Instead, the blond had looked at the girl's chest, had absolutely _freaked_, and then, he had proceeded to grab Obito and Kakashi and _run_ like the demons from hell were after them. Kakashi had been astonished and more than a little embarrassed.

Granted, it was kinda scary to watch a girl that small break through a small _mountain_ as she started to cry...

It wasn't until later on, when another jounin had sat down and explained just why his sensei was rocking back and forth while mumbling about not being ready, that Kakashi finally got it. And even then, he didn't get what the big deal was. As far as he could see, puberty only brought on the occasional bursting into tears and other than that, Rin was the same old, sweet-faced tyrant that she'd always been. But after that incident, every four weeks on the dot, Minato would walk on eggshells around the girl.

Suffice it to say, Rin had abused her power shamelessly.

And then there was the time with Naruto's first word, which was a whole new league of weird. Apparently, the fact that said word had been some garbled form of Kakashi's name meant that Minato, the freaking _Hokage_, could go around calling him Naruto's mama. Granted, Kakashi hadn't exactly _minded_ and had maybe even felt a little warmed by the display even though he'd pretended to be annoyed; he had a reputation to maintain after all. But fuckitall, the silver haired jounin had been expecting a tantrum of epic proportions. He'd expected pouting and sulking; and overall, he'd expected behavior that was thoroughly unfitting for the most powerful man in the land of fire. He'd had speeches and scientific research all prepared to quell the other man's ire and had been prepared to grovel if that got him off the hook. But, in the end, all he'd gotten was a back-breaking hug and an armful of Namikazes (both Naruto AND Minato). It was almost disappointing except not really because he'd been warm and comfortable and squished between a twenty-five year old and an eight month old, thank you.

Bah.

Digressions aside however, they had come full circle once more. Minato was freaking out over god knows what and honestly, Kakashi probably wouldn't be able to figure it out unless the man sat him down and explained things to him, in detail...with charts, maps and possibly translators.

Kakashi tuned back into his former sensei's ranting just as the man was winding down, watching with fascination as the man flailed like one possessed, which, to be fair, was entirely possible with Minato. God knew, that kind of energy had to come from _somewhere_ and in Minato's case, the supernatural was probably the only fitting source. The silver-haired man tuned back in once more.

"**And seriously, if I ever get my hands on the person who introduced you to such terrible influences, I'll strangle him,"** and here, Kakashi watched with fascination as there was much gesturing and air-strangling, **"And I'll make them regret they were ever born!" **Having said which,the Yondaime Hokage finally plopped onto a conveniently placed chair with a pout, sulking as though he were a pre-teen instead of a fully grown and capable adult, a ninja one at that.

Kakashi barely held back a snort; no matter what, Minato could never be described as an adult.

Anyway, the silver-haired man sighed a little, wondering what he'd done, beyond his livelihood, to deserve this. And with no answers forth-coming, he allowed himself to sigh once again.

Oh well, atleast the blond had quieted down now and it was finally his turn to talk. Hell, he could even have some fun with this situation if he played his cards right.

Kakashi made a show of slowly looking up from his book, his eyebrow still raised and his eyes questioning both in curiosity and as a means of irritating the man before him. The blond was just so endearing when he was flailing about like an inept genin; it made Kakashi think of his little puppies. As though in reaction to Kakashi's very thoughts, though his actions probably had a lot to do with it too, Minato _reacted_. **"Goddamn it to hell, Kakashi! Are you even listening to me?" **

Ah, nothing riled his former sensei more than the feeling of being ignored, and Kakashi had no problems whatsoever with exploiting that weakness. The silver-haired man blinked as slowly as he could, before turning back to his book. He almost felt bad about riling the blond up when something was obviously bothering him, but Kakashi was sure that Minato would eventually get around to telling him…eventually.

And in the meantime, there was fun to be had! Kakashi pretended to absolutely bury his nose in the manuscript in his hand, as though Minato just wasn't his time. The man would probably _explode_.

Kakashi was not disappointed.

With what the silver-haired jounin thought was an unnecessary and yet amusing roar of frustration, Minato yanked the book out of his hands, his teeth grit and his eyes flashing,** "Pay. Attention. When. I'm. Talking. To. You."**

Ah, the angry sensei voice had come out.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. It was so cute how the Hokage seemed to think that the tactics of youth would work against Kakashi _now_. Of course, Kakashi also steadfastly ignored the fact that he _was_ a youth and really, so was _Minato_. In fact, he completely forgot that the entirety of their rag-tag little family was made up of two youths and a toddler. He also ignored the fact that the sensei voice did work. In fact, it worked more than it didn't.

But that's another story for another day.

Going for another tactic in his campaign to make the Hokage implode in on himself, Kakashi decided to mock the blond a little. He focused his eye on Minato, looking for all the world like a ninja awaiting his next orders from the Hokage, instead of the family that they were supposed to be. This would probably get an even bigger rise out of the blond since the man was absolutely adamant about maintaining a line between work and family. Hell, Kakashi had scars from the last time he'd called Minato by anything but his name while 'in the sanctity of their home,' as Minato liked to phrase it. This was going to be good.

Except for the part where it wasn't.

Instead of becoming apoplectic as Kakashi had expected, Minato seemed to slump as all the fight seemed to drain out of him.

And Kakashi was left gaping and sadly enough, floundering.

That wasn't supposed to happen, dammit! The man actually looked like one of his baby ninken after a grueling day. He just looked…sad and defeated.

And to make things worse, Kakashi had no contingency plans (after all, Minato becoming sad wasn't part of the plan at all), nor did he have any idea of how to go about comforting the blond (especially since he had _no idea what the problem was)._

The copy-ninja of Konoha was at a loss for the first time in a very, _very_ long time.

He was about to gently (and carefully, so as not to set off the typically volatile man) wrap an arm around Minato's shoulder, and set about trying to pry information out of his otherwise stubborn-as-all-fuck sensei, when back up came in the form of a small toddler.

"**Ma! Pa!" **Naruto, the darling, savior, blond, _angel_ of a boy that he was, came tottering over with all the grace his two and a half year old self could muster, **"Hungy! Hungy!"**

Hale-fucking-lujah.

Cliched or not; implausible or not; the tension dissipated from the room as the child barged in and _holy hell_, Kakashi was grateful.

The silver-haired jounin found himself chuckling as he picked up the little one and didn't even bother to flinch back when Naruto, as usual, pulled down his mask. Hell, he didn't lightly scold the child for calling him 'ma,' as he typically would.

He walked over to Minato who, as expected, instantly cheered up the second his son was plopped onto his lap. The blond tickled the toddler version of himself in the tummy, making funny faces at his baby boy, all past moments of depression forgotten.

Kakashi couldn't help but smile. He felt himself warming at the bond those two shared and found himself thanking god that everything had turned out so well.

Because almost three years ago, Kakashi had watched his vibrant, brilliant, beautiful, _moronically_ heroic former-sensei almost sign his life away to save the village. He himself had been prepared to die, had counted on it in fact. He had been there to see the massive chakra outbreak that had happened when the fox had finally been sealed in the newborn baby. Hell, he'd felt the massive chakra outbreak at point blank range. He'd stayed to die, knowing that with his sensei gone, he had nothing left. Surely, little Naruto would not survive the sealing? And so, with a bleak, empty feeling lodged in his heart he'd run to die.

And then he'd woken up in a dimly lit room, with his former sensei in the bed opposite him and with a squalling infant in a cradle in the middle. He'd dimly gotten up, wanting the noise to stop and had walked over to the crib and the squalling had stopped. Kakashi had found himself slowly removing the scraps that covered his face as he looked down on the little one, memorizing the babe's features and falling just a little bit in love with the mini clone of his sensei. He'd only snapped out of staring at the young one when a painful groan erupted from the other bed, a groan that sounded distinctly like the one…

…sensei?

And then the nurse had rushed in, looking furious with him for being out of bed. And that, as they say, was that.

* * *

Kakashi snapped out of his musings as the toddler gave out a particularly loud giggle; and he found himself warming a little once more. He made himself box away the depressing thoughts and only allowed himself to process what was right in front of him –food. The past was in the past after all, and right now he had a couple of hungry blonds to feed.

As an added incentive, if he didn't get to it soon, Minato might try to cook again and who knew what disaster would come of that this time? The last time had been bad enough and Kakashi's apartment had burned down…

A great and admirable Hokage and overall ninja Minato was; anywhere near as good in the kitchen, he was not.

Admittedly, that was the incident which had forced Kakashi to find a new place, which had then resulted in Minato essentially forcing him to live in the Namikaze compound out of pure guilt. Not two weeks later, Minato had decided that the move would be permanent, the choice not even being given to Kakashi, of course. And after a small argument, in which Minato had pouted, shamelessly used his only son as an extremely adorable bargaining chip and had essentially tied Kakashi down to a bed until the silver-haired man had acquiesced.

…to this day Kakashi isn't sure what to think of _that_ situation.

But in the end, everyone was happy and that was what was important. Naruto had always loved having him around, as Minato was happy to point out regularly whenever it looked like Kakashi was even _thinking_ about looking for another place to live. The older blond was happy as well, since he loved having Kakashi (and his cooking and parenting skills) around as well. And Kakashi himself loved the two blonds more than anything else…

Sure, Minato was incapable of any kind of housework which meant most of the work fell on the copy-nin. Sure, Naruto was too young to do anything but drool, eat, sleep, poop and occasionally call Kakashi, 'ma,' or Minato, 'pa.' Sure, Minato still made decisions for him without consulting him….

Like the time when the blond had gotten it into his head that as he and Kakashi had to share the same room since they were the 'parents' and the 'adults of the house'. Of course, all of this was while said silver-head was on a long mission. Kakashi had come home to find all of his things in the main bedroom, intermingled with Minato's things and, to make things worse, he had lost the resultant argument against the blond spectacularly.

But, further digression aside, he still loved the two blond idiots more than anything else….and atleast Minato had let him have his own bed…

Everything had worked out.

Sort of…?

The acclaimed copy-non sighed a little, allowing himself a smile, before tossing together a quick stir-fry and a small stack of peanut butter sandwiches and milk for the little one.

The cheers he got as he set the food on the table made him _grin, _which was amplified because it was _without_ the mask covering up his face. Things were somewhat back to normal and no longer _weird_ like it had been before Naruto had barged in.

||Of course, he didn't notice the way the older blond stopped for a second to stare…||

* * *

After dinner, however, things began to turn weird again.

As Kakashi was doing dishes, Minato came over and wrapped his arms around Kakashi, burying his face into the other man's neck.

Sadly, that in and of itself wasn't the odd part.

Kakashi was well used to his over-affectionate sensei's antics; living with the man for bordering on three years had assured that he'd acclimated out of pure self-preservation, after all. The man was just an affectionate person by nature and snuffling at other people came as naturally to the blond as being cute did for Naruto. Kakashi merely hummed contentedly and leaned back into the embrace as he always did; allowing the warmth to wash over him as he waited for Minato to spill whatever it was that bothering him.

It was a sort of ritual, and one that was well used at that.

Every night, as Kakashi would get around to doing dishes, Minato would come and just bask in his presence. Usually, the blond would wrap himself around his former student and just burrow for a while, rather like one of Kakashi's puppies when something was bothering one of them. Given enough time and silence, the blond would then talk about his day, or talk about whatever was bothering him at the time.

Sometimes he would talk about nothing and at others, everything.

On a night when there were no dishes to be done, Minato would simply corner Kakashi on the couch and do the ritual there, which could sometimes get uncomfortable because it usually involved actual, _painful_, sofa corners.

But that was neither here nor there.

Either way, Kakashi didn't have to wait long for the snuffling around his neck to cease or for Minato to speak; and _that_ was when things got weird.

"**Ne…Kakashi…"**

"**Hmm?" **Kakashi hummed, taking a kunai out of his hip-pouch and using it to pick at a particularly stubborn piece of food that was stuck to the plate he was washing.

"**You'd tell me if you were to ever…you know…"**

Kakashi continued to pick at the plate gently, slowly scraping the food off the plate even as he silently encouraged his former sensei to speak by nudging back against.

When the man wouldn't speak, he verbalized his encouragement, **"What is it, sensei?" **

He felt the blond nuzzle some more before he mumbled doggedly to just call him Minato, already.

But Kakashi wasn't fooled by the change in topic and mentally prepared for the worst. This was probably going to be serious if the previous mood, before Naruto had come along to diffuse it, was anything to go by.

Minato took a deep breath.

Kakashi tensed minutely.

"**You'd tell me if you lost your virginity, right? Or even if you were **_**thinking**_** of it?"**

The only indication that Kakashi was perturbed was that the kunai went _through_ the plate instead of gently scraping away. Otherwise, Kakashi was proud to say that his response was quite bland.

"…**hah?"**

**

* * *

A/N: **So...what'd you think? :) this has been in my head for MONTHS and it drove me crazy til I typed it out. This was done in 45 minutes so it probably isn't the best thing grammar and spelling-wise. I sowwy. But I'd really appreciate it if you could **REVIEW**. I'm sick of logging in to find out that a story has brought a hundred alerts, a hundred favorites (both author and story) and then only seeing like...5 reviews. I understand that not everyone has the time. But come on now, atleast a few would be nice, you know? **I spent time and energy on this and it hurts to not have any validation.**

So please, review.

At the same time, please don't be a total douche either. Constructive criticism is good. **Flames are BAD**. **They hurt people. **

That being said, I really hope you enjoyed this. Chapter two will come out when it's ready, which is probably in a week or so. I work a lot and am going through school too. So bear with me :)**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **Is Minato alive and kicking? No? Then I don't own the series :/ all I can say is, "WAHHH!"

**Warnings: Bad comedy** (I think some of this stuff is funny, not sure anyone else will xD), **bad grammar and spelling** (it won't be TERRIBLE hopefully, but not good either), **possibly a little boring** (I hope not, but well, I'm not that great of a writer ^^;;), **possible confusion **(a lot of stuff will be explained in later chapters...but well, not here xD), **some bad language **(nothing most people shouldn't know though xD), **some OOC** (IDK...i tried to keep them in character...but I'm pretty sure I seriously deviated at some point. It's romance and humor xD more fluff and obliviousness than anything else. I think I can be forgiven as long as Minato doesn't wear a dress, without good cause, at some point), **the pairing** (this will be MinatoXKakashi. Don't complain to me about the pairing. Seriously. I will not be held responsible for my actions if you do) and finally **SLASH** (and just to make sure the point is made, **SLASH**, as in **BOYS MAKING OUT WITH/HAVING SEX WITH/BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER BOYS.** If this isn't to your liking, leave. Please.)

**Reading Key:** || Blah || – means that it's a blatant author's interjection/point of view,there will be very few of these; **bold** – dialog; _italics_ is exaggeration.

**Author's Note One:** HOLY CRAP. I SHALL TAKE A MOMENT TO LIKE...SPAZ. MY FAVORITE MINAKAKA AUTHOR OF ALL TIME, CHECKERBLOOM, REVIEWED THIS STORY. HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP HOLY CRAP! *heart* ALL CAPS ARE NECESSARY. Okay, I know that was over the top, but this is the same person who inspired me to write this story. Seriously. And she said that she LIKED it. I'm a little star-struck here. I AM NOT WORTHY! If you haven't read her stuff yet, go. Do it NAO. Seriously. You will not regret it. Checkerbloom is GENIUS.

**Author's Note Two: **geez guys! I'm thrilled! i can't believe I got reviews in the double digits for this thing! xD You guys actually doubled my expectations! ALL OF MY LOVE. Major thanks to **checkerbloom, historyhound, chippermunk of doom (I LOVE YOUR NAME), LuxaLupinTKKashi, anonymous, BloodyRoses, jingletoes, krito1389, DarkAngelJudas, Hatake's Offspring, Kelly and FullMoonSerina**! You guys rock my socks to hell and back! Also, thank you for all the alerts and faves~

**Author's Note Three: **Wow...this was a whopping 5000+ word chapter. Holy crap~ Anyway, this chapter is not going to be great either. Again, this was done in an hour or so, between classes. The grammar will suck, spelling will suck, premise isn't that great. Blah blah. Also, as a quick sidenote, next chapter involves a lemon~~ xD I had that written before I had this chapter written~ I just have to...you know...write an actual chapter around it. . whatever, right? I'll get around to it! Also, it was brought to my attention that the boldage on dialogue is a bit of a problem. I'm sorry about that :/ it's just something I'm used to. On top of that, I feel like it separates the dialogue from the whole lot of descriptive crap around it. I kept it this time too, but if enough people have a problem with it, I can definitely change it.

**Author's Note Four:**Haha, sorry it took so long...well actually it took about two weeks. Which is about when I'll be posting, methinks. But yeah, I know I promised a week in the last chapter and I was going to, really. Then...something dumb happened. My laptop died a painful death; I had to send it in to get fixed, pay several hundred dollars out of my ass for it and to rub salt into the wounds, I'M NOT GETTING IT BACK TIL THE EIGHTH. FML. I was also stupid enough to NOT back my shit up. -fails- Therefore, this was entirely rewritten. I don't know if it's better or worse than the original. I can't gauge. I kinda...don't like my writing...ever. Your reviews, and rabid plot bunnies, are the only thing keeping me writing. Really.

**ANYWAY, LONG ASS AUTHORS NOTE(S) ASIDE, ENJOY! AND R N R PLEASE~~**

* * *

Kakashi tensed a tad, trying his best not to twitch as his former sensei nuzzled in further and tightened his hold over his former student.

He knew what the man was doing, oh dear god he knew. The deceptively affectionate hug was more of a 'not so much intended as affectionate strangle-hold but I love you anyway' type of thing. In other words, he wasn't getting away from this situation any time soon...if ever.

Damn.

Kakashi eyed the kunai in his hand contemplatively, idly wondering if he could use it to escape somehow. He'd never be able to get Minato with it; but maybe he could saw his own arms off and run? He immediately nixed the idea, it wouldn't work; plus he'd never be an awesome ninja again.

Talented, Kakashi was; capable of regrowing body parts, not so much.

Hm, the other option was to just off himself, or at least harm himself grievously enough so that his sensei would be too busy panicking, over the bleeding and sort of dying part, to ever ask these questions again. If Kakashi was lucky enough, maybe the trauma would block the blond's memories of the past few hours.

...right. Probably not. Nin-dog with a bone and all that shit.

So then, the only possible route involved either telling his former sensei that he didn't want to talk about it...or to just answer the question. Somehow, Kakashi didn't think either option bode well for him. On the other hand, option A was at least quick and simple...

"Uh...do I have to answer that?"

Minato's response was an even tighter grip and nodding.

...right.

So there was only one option then, and Kakashi was put in an extremely tough spot. Then, here was the question...

How does one go about telling their extremely overprotective former-sensei that they haven't been a virgin since they were thirteen and were sent on that one undercover mission where they were subbing in for a prostitute?

'And it just had to be me dealing with this...' Kakashi couldn't help but internally grumble, hating his life just a little bit.

* * *

Minato, for his part, just clung and for good reason. If nothing else, the blond knew his student very, _very_ well and the little bastard's tendency to give people the slip when pushed into a corner was fucking _legendary_. No, seriously. He was talking asterisks in the Bingo Book here. Like, there was the description of Kakashi, several pages worth of dangerous ninjutsu that he was well versed in and then, at the very end, there was a _**watch out. Wily bastard. Shows talent for slippery escapes in tough situation. Best to have him tied down as fast as possible.**_

The blond couldn't help but snort a little as he thought of that particular little tidbit.

Ha.

There were understatements and then there were _understatements,_ and that asterisked note was far beyond the realm of _either one_. Kakashi would run if Minato let his guard down and then Minato would have to hunt Kakashi down like the swine he is and sit on him til there was a response. There wold be a life or death battle, gallons of blood, _a trip to the hospital_...

Minato shuddered. It was better for all parties involved if Minato just kept his guard up the first time around.

Of course, the blond could've also acquiesced to Kakashi's wishes and let him the fuck go; but then his questions wouldn't have answers and then where would they be?

The blond staunchly ignored his conscience berating him for being in other people's personal business and just held on tighter. After all, he only really meddled in _Kakashi's_ affairs and since Kakashi was supposed to be his Naru's mama and therefore, by some extension, _Minato's partner, _it was well within his rights to be in Kakashi's space. In fact, as far as the blond was concerned, Kakashi _didn't have_ personal boundaries because they were _Minato's_.

Besides, he'd been keeping an eye on the silver-haired spit-fire since he was very, very young and he'd watched as the deadly, tiny and admittedly pretty little boy turned into a fit, still deadly, still on the shorter side, _beautiful_ man. This transformation had garnered him even more attention on top of the attention he got through being the famous copy nin and frankly, it was all beginning to grate on the blond a little.

...or a lot. You know, whatever.

To makes things worse, _things_ had been happening as of late.

Like, for example, a couple of days ago, the three of them, Kakashi, Naruto and the older blond, had gone out shopping. Naruto had grown a little and Kakashi was doing that thing where he _hinted_ that he was going to go out anyway and the other two should come with him so they can go clothes shopping for the baby.

Minato thinks Kakashi has codependency issues.

He also steadfastly chooses to ignore the fact that the hints that the silver-haired nin had been dropping involved the older blond getting his paperwork done while Kakashi and Naruto go baby-clothes shopping without him.

Anyway, here's how it went.

* * *

They'd just been walking along, Kakashi giving the older blond Deadpan Stares of DisapprovalTM for 'reasons unknown' while simultaneously entertaining a wildly energetic Naruto – when _it_ had happened.

"**Yo! Kakashi!"**

It was one of the brats, one of the ones that were Kakashi's age. That in and of itself wasn't a problem and Minato had even found himself warming a little at the thought that his silver-haired former student was finally warming up to other humans.

Hell, the blond had watched with a smile as Kakashi, gently cradling a very curious Naruto, had turned to the other person with a deadpan 'yo' in return.

...alright, so he'd lied a little.

Kakashi wasn't exactly being warm...unless warm meant achieving the core temperature of an ice-cube in space. But whatever, atleast Kakashi had acknowledged the other man's existence, which was more than most others had been able to achieve.

...which should have been a warning sign. But hey, retrospect...20/20...all that crap.

Anyway, the two had greeted each other (sort of) and everything was going well.

The other man, a chuunin, –one of Sarutobi's boys?- had grinned wide around the cigarette in his mouth, completely unphased by the Kakashi's behavior, **"You know...that tough guy bullshit doesn't work so well when you have a toddler in your arms?"**

There was pin-drop silence for a second.

Then, Kakashi's single eye had narrowed dramatically and before Minato could even make a move, the silver-haired nin had landed a solid kick to the other man's groin, a look of fierce protectiveness on his face that only Minato could decipher through the mask.

"**I suggest you stop cursing in front of the baby, Asuma,"** the silver-haired jounin had spat, before coolly stepping back amidst Naruto's happy giggles as the other man went down, clutching his precious family jewels. Minato had watched, impressed and exasperated in equal measure that Kakashi had managed to maintain his infamous nonchalance even while kicking a fellow ninja in the balls. He hadn't been sure whether to laugh or be proud that Kakashi had done that.

Like, the move was girly as hell. And it totally didn't help that, right after doing that, Kakashi had sort of broke his Code of Don't Give a ShiteTM a little to speak in quiet baby-talk to the tiny blond in his arms, telling him that it was BAD to say things like Asuma did.

"**You hear me, Naru-chan?"** Kakashi had iterated, tickling the baby blond's tummy, **"You don't ever repeat what the twat says, hmm? Because you're a good baby boy and Asuma's life depends on it."** And here, a dark glare or warning had been issued to the man still on the floor. Minato had no doubt _whatsoever _that, should Naruto ever say any variation of the word 'bullshit,' Asuma was in for a _world of pain_. Kakashi would make sure that he _wished for death_.

But still, Minato had sort of warmed up a little at the display, homicidal or not. He couldn't help loving that Kakashi was in fact Naruto's mother by all but blood.

...he also hadn't been brave enough to utter that out loud. He liked his balls just where they were, thank you very much, attached to his body and uncrushed. He had a healthy sense of self-preservation, thank you.

The other man, on the other hand, apparently didn't. He managed to get up after 10 minutes of crying on the ground with a loud, **"That wasn't very nice, Kakashi!" **and had proceeded to try to strong arm at Kakashi, sort of posturing at him. Although, it is to be noted that he kept his groin defended from further attack. Either way, Minato had been left wondering how the hell the man had managed to pass his chuunin exams with so little brain cells. After all, self-preservation instinct was a big thing when it came to ninja and this stupid man seemed to have so little...

...the blond decided that he would have to look into that.

Kakashi had merely deadpanned at him some more; no words were needed for the amount of ill-disguised impatience that he was exuding. This was about when most people would have backed off and run away with their tail between their legs.

"**No, seriously,"** Asuma had whined, looking irritated, **"Totally uncalled for."**

Kakashi had deadpanned even more, shifting the baby in his arms into a more comfortable position before speaking, **"What. Do. You. Want?" **Minato couldn't help but note that with Naruto better ensconced in his caretaker's arms, Kakashi was better able to move in a way in which he could inflict bodily harm on the chuunin in front of him. But that was neither here not there.

Apparently Asuma noticed too. The burly man had sighed before simply blurting it out. **"Look, I was just wondering if you wanted to have a drink with me. That's all."**

And that was about when Minato's world came to a screeching halt and everything went to shit.

Minato hadn't really been able to reconcile was going on. What? Was the surly bastard asking Kakashi out? On a _date_? Any sympathy he might have been able to gather for the burly man's plight (after all, crushed nuts were no joke...) disappeared in a flash.

What the _fuck_?

The blond had watched in a daze as Kakashi held up the baby in his arms with a raised eyebrow and he had watched as Asuma rolled his eyes and proceeded to explain that it would be later on in the 'd continued to watch, some internal part of him aching for no apparent reason, as Kakashi seemed to ponder it deeply.

This was about when Minato had been forced to realize, Kakashi was a _teenage boy_. And as a teenage boy, he did things like socialize and have fun and date and eventually get together with someone and dear god, why was he feeling so freaked about this?

At the same time, he couldn't help but be a little pissed off too. What the hell, he'd thought irritatedly, was Kakashi actually going to abandon his family, his awesome former-sensei and his _child, _just to have a _social life_? What the hell was that? Minato had fumed and continued to think on.

A few minutes of thinking had yeilded a result he could live with. There was no chance in hell that he was going to let his protege date that...that... _hussy_! There was no way that this... this... _Asuma_ was good enough to even _ask_ Kakashi on a date! _No way_. And besides, Minato got a say in situations like this goddamn it! On top of that, the blond was pretty sure that Kakashi had no idea of what was going on; his partner-in-raising-Naruto was just innocent like that! He'd have to protect the poor man from people like Asuma who just wanted to take advantage of the silver-haired man's innocence and prey upon him! It was his _duty_!

….he'd decided that he would have to step in before Kakashi did something dumb...like actually _accepting_.

"**Ahahaha! Gomen, Asuma-kun!"** Minato had interjected loudly in fake cheer, an extremely dangerous glint reminiscent of a rabid dog in his eyes, **"Kakashi already has plans for tonight. Better yet, he's busy all week, followed by a month long mission to the mist country."**

|| It is to be noted here, that Kakashi had no such plans and hadn't been a mission longer than three days since little Naruto came into existence. The baby blond didn't like being without his 'ma' for much longer than that and tended to bring the house down with his endless screeching until Kakashi showed up to comfort him...whenever that was. Also, as far as Kakashi is concerned, Minato is pretty much terrible at being a parent because most of the times, the blond acted even younger than his three year old son. But that was neither here nor there.||

The silver-haired jounin had looked absolutely flummoxed while still trying to maintain his chill outlook, **"...what?" **He'd probably been all kinds of confused because let's face it, while he may be used to Minato springing random plans on him, he'd never sounded so...odd about it.

Asuma was busy toadying away to the 'Hokage-sama,' bowing and smiling nervously.

The Hokage didn't allow him, or anyone else, to get another word in.

"**Yeah! You know! Those plans! With the thing and Naruto and..and...movies!"** Minato was proud to say that he had managed to say all that in a cheerful tone, full of confidence. And if his eye had been twitching and he looked a little demonic...well... no one could begrudge him.

Still, no one moved.

Finally,** "Movies. We had plans."** Minato had managed to grind out before grabbing Kakashi and making a run for it.

As he'd turned around to offer a polite good-bye though (he _was _Hokage, after all), he'd seen the look in the Asuma-bastard's eyes. The one that was all...warm...and tingly and looked a lot like he wanted to throw Kakashi over the nearest flat surface and...and...

….moving on.

At the end of that debacle, Minato had had to sit through 'Ninja Babies of Death' for the umpteenth time as Kakashi gently held a burbling baby Naruto in his arms.

...it was far from a proud moment for him.

To avenge himself and make himself feel better, he'd decided that, when he got the chance, he would send Asuma on _four consecutive month-long missions_. And if that didn't tip the bastard off to stay away from Kakashi, well, at least it kept him out of Minato's hair for four months.

* * *

And then, AS THOUGH THAT WEREN'T BAD ENOUGH, there had been two others..._in the span of two days_

.

What was _up_ with that?

After Minato had successfully dragged Kakashi and his son away from crazy people like Asuma and had suffered through that goddamned movie, he thought he'd at least get a break...how many people could possibly want to hit on Kakashi? Granted, the man was pretty, even with the mask. But _damn_, he had not expected _this_.

But no, there had been _others_... the first of which, not counting the Asuma-bastard, had happened yesterday. It was a man in to much green, too much glitter, too much spandex.

And did he mention the goddamned _glitter_?

They'd just been walking along, trying to get Naruto clothes again (because god knew, the last time was an epic bust), when a small tornado of _sparkles_ had shown up. **"KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!"** was screamed at a volume that probably made their neighbors in _River Country_ cringe and a thumbs-up was presented along with a teeth-sparkle.

|| Thankfully, Minato hadn't really been able to get past the glitter, so he wasn't traumatized too much by the weird ninja. He also refuses to admit that he had a part in _creating_ that. ||

Anyway, the stupid green _thing_ had come along and heckled Kakashi, something about a challenge or something? But again, his silver-haired protege had held up the small child in his arms, deadpanning that he was busy.

This had brought along a lot of tears and whole hoard of the words 'youthful' and 'hip' used in many intervals.

Overall? Not counting the terrible brain trauma that occurred from just being in this man's _presence_...nothing bad had happened.

..not yet anyway.

Just as Minato was about to write off the situation and watch Kakashi suffer through the green thing's attentions, _it_ had happened...again!

"**SO, KAKASHI! I PROPOSE THAT WE GO AND DRINK SAKE! LIKE MEN! AND THEN GO AND WRESTLE IN THE MUD... NAKED! LIKE MEN!"**

...what? Minato hadn't been able to believe it. Had the other man actually _said_ that? Really? He was _right there_ dammit!

The blond's brain had kicked into overdrive at the word naked and in micro-seconds, he'd placed himself in between his little family (one Hatake Kakashi and child) and the green thing. **"I'm sorry...I don't think I heard you right...what was that?" **he'd practically purred, menace pouring from his very skin as he glared the thing down.

The blond was totally ready to _kick some ass, _dammit! There would be penance! There would be regret! There would be _blood_!

There would be Kakashi pushing him aside to address the green thing himself!

Wait...huh?

Minato had pulled out of his Furious Haze of Righteous Fury(TM) and watched with confusion as he was pushed aside by his protege. He'd had no idea what was going on and had been rightfully confused and somewhat hurt that he was brushed aside so easily. And then, Kakashi had spoken.

"**Would that count as a challenge?"**

And the blond had been _lost_. Was Kakashi actually considering this? Minato fumed once more, fury emitting from every _pore _as he'd turned his hurt and irritated glare on the silver-haired jounin. What the hell was he thinking?

Kakashi merely deadpanned at him, him!, before turning back to the green beast from hell, **"Well Gai? Would it?"**

The green thing, now named Guy, had merely grinned, his teeth pinging annoyingly once again, **"OF COURSE MY RIVAL!"**

Kakashi had merely sighed,** "Must you be so loud?" **he'd used one hand, the one unoccupied by bouncing baby boy to rub at his temple before speaking once more,** "You know what? Nevermind. When?"**

And then, Minato had panicked and some stuff had happened.

The end result? The green thing ended up being glared down, Kakashi ended up even more confused, and Minato? Well, he'd ended up watching 'Ninja Babies of Death'..._again_.

To add insult to injury, while they were in the theatre, Kakashi had looked up at him with a curious eye, **"Wow sensei, you must **_**really**_** like this movie..."**

Minato had only been able to grunt out a, "Just call me by my _name_!" as he watched the terrible movie yet again. He figured that he would probably be able to quote the damned thing by now, which was just..._sad._

That does it, Minato had decided, the green thing was never seeing the light of day again, he'd have so many missions...

* * *

And then, there had been that last one.

Now, while Asuma asking Kakashi out had _rocked his world_ and opened his eyes and Gai asking Kakashi out had, frankly, skeeved him out beyond reasonable measure, the final one was what freaked him out beyond all hope and made him interrogate Kakashi.

It had happened just this morning and it had been _horrifying_.

...he'd never be able to look at Ichiraku the same way again...

They'd been at the ramen stand for lunch because, as Minato maintained, Kakashi just didn't have enough ninja skills to stomach his awesome food.

||In reality, whatever it was that Minato had tried to make had essentially turned into _coal_. Kakashi wasn't a bad ninja, he just liked his stomach intact if he could help it.||

Anyway, they'd just been settling in, Minato getting a high-chair for the baby while Kakashi quickly and efficiently forced a bib on a fussing Naruto. Everything was normal. They were getting the mini-blond settled in and then it would be time for _Ramen, _capitalization intentional. It'd been turning out to be a great day!

And then, _Anko_ had walked in, mostly naked self and all.

Minato watched as she looked around for a little bit and then, as he'd nearly been expecting, she made a bee-line for Kakashi. Now, there were several things that made her approach very, _very_ different.

First of all, she'd draped herself all over Kakashi first, which was automatically different from the first two. Second of all, Kakashi hadn't even flinched! He'd just continued to go on strapping Naruto to the high-chair that had just been brought in, almost as though he didn't care...or if he were _used to it_! It had driven Minato a little crazy and a lot angry...but whatever. Digressions and whatnot.

Anyway.

"Neh, Kakashi..." she'd said, her voice nearing a seductive purr, "You wanna go at it again?"

Go at what? Minato had wondered, somewhat dazed and feeling like he was missing something important. He'd turned to Kakashi like he was the one who'd asked the question instead of the scantily clad kunoichi in front of them. He was pretty damn curious as to where this was going. That, and he was waiting for Kakashi to be confused too. There was no way tha this innocent, young, pretty protege was involved in anything like _that_. Right?

_Right?_

He'd looked to Kakashi, expecting confusion. Instead of confusion though, the silver-haired man had simply raised his only visible eyebrow, **"Never again, Anko. Never again."**

_...what!_**  
**

By the time Minato had been done having his internal meltdown, involving internal flailing, several mini explosions and curses that would make Kakashi kick _him_ in the nads, the Anko begu to talk again.

Said kunoichi had _grinned_, **"Oh come on, you know you liked it! Panting like a bitch, you were." **Here, Minato had expected some version of what had happened with Asuma, physical violence combined with a heady threat that left the other party quaking in their boots for days. But that was before he actually processed _what she had said_, and then, he was just frothing at the mouth and trying to think of the best way to kill the bitch without leaving evidence behind that he'd done it. He smirked viciously, looking at the woman whom Kakashi was about to flay and _looking forward to it_. But he was disappointed.

Instead of sending the assuming bitch to hell, Kakashi had only glared steadily before calmly stating, **"Not in front of the baby, Anko-baka."**

Minato began what-the-fucking on a hard-core level, actually feeling the beginnings of a heart-attack.

Meanwhile, Anko had at least had the decency to look ashamed, **"Aw...Naru-chan! I didn't see you there! Don't say the things I say ok?"** She'd petted the little tyke's hair with a grin and Naruto had spat bubbles at her with garbled baby-chat. And then she'd proceeded to coo over the blond baby like all women did when they saw the little guy. Apparently even the crazy ones had maternal instincts or whatever. Minato would have found the scene ridiculously cute, and he would have been very proud of his baby's manipulation skills...had he not been ridiculously confused about what the hell was going on.

And then, Anko had spoken again and Minato's world had ended.

"**Oh come on, Kakashi. You can just come over to my place. We can have some sake and then have some fun..." **Minato had nearly died at how she'd said that. It almost seemed to imply that Kakashi...had been _doing things_. Unsavory things. Things that no man with a child and a child-rearing-partner should even be considering, much less actually _doing_.

The thought had left a bad taste in his mouth...if by bad taste, one meant terrible and puke-inducing taste from hell.

Thankfully for the blond's sanity though, Kakashi had still continued with a negative response, getting a still fussing Naruto settled in. Minato knew he should help, but he'd just been so... interested in the conversation before him. Interested...invested...whatever.

And then...things _really_ went to shit.

Anko had opened her god-forsaken mouth and uttered words of such terrible...GAH, Minato had not been able to function for a few minutes after that.

"**Come on. I know you like the thing with the snakes!"**

There had been a moment of silence after her words.

And what happened after that was nothing short of _spectacular_. Kakashi had blushed, _blushed _dammit! And then he'd immediately picked up Naruto, grabbed Minato and run for it. No explanations. No nothing.

Minato still had no idea what the hell that was.

Sadly for Kakashi, by then, thoughts had been planted in the blond's head.

At that point, Minato couldn't really sit around and justify Kakashi's innocence, especially with what Anko had just insinuated and the way Kakashi had reacted.

Just how innocent (or not) _was_ the silver-haired jounin? Had the young man ever been in a relationship even? Had he had _sex_ and Minato didn't even know it? For some reason, the thoughts of his protege being sexually active left him with a bad feeling in his chest...a terrible feeling, actually. It also made his possessive instincts rear up like no other and Minato didn't really even know _why_. It would take a whole lot of introspection and self-confrontation to get him anywhere on that front.

But, Minato knew, if that's how he felt, then he'd explore the situation and see what the hell was going on. he was sure it wasn't so big a deal that he was so heavily invested in his protege's love life...right?

Right.

Besides, Kakashi needed to date someone worthy of him. Someone whom Naruto could get along with, and Minato too. Someone who could be a part of the family without forcing themselves in.

|| Minato didn't even realize that his stipulations left almost no one for Kakashi to date except...himself||

* * *

And thus, here they were, with Minato locking his arms around the silver-haired jounin to keep him from escaping. He would NOT let go till he had an answer.

"So, answer me Kakashi. You would atleast TELL me right?" Minato actually wanted to know that Kakashi wouldn't have sex...period. But whatever. He'd take what he could get.

He felt Kakashi just sigh before looking him in the eye, and the answer the young man gave rocked Minato's world.

It started out with an innocent enough,** "Sensei..."**

The blond merely squeezed in warning, not even having to say aloud that he was just 'Minato,' dammit.**  
**

Kakashi sighed again before just sagging into Minato's body, like he was giving up. The blond felt a tad triumphant that the silver-haired man had officially given up. The answer would be his! He also felt warm all over that Kakashi was willing to lean on him in his time of need. It looked like the young man was starting to warm up!

Despite that though, Kakashi's voice remained as cool as ever, which only meant one thing.

The blond prepared himself for the worst.

* * *

Kakashi sighed internally, wistfully eying the window as though it could provide him with escape. But he knew when he was cornered, and Hatake Kakashi was nothing of not adaptive. He'd just have to...bite the bullet, so to speak. There was no other option.

He sagged against the blond behind him, hoping the extra weight would momentarily deter Minato from jumping down someone's throat the second the news was broken. He also quickly got a hold of the arms holding him, for the same reasons.

And with one more sigh, the not-so-secret-but-would-drive-his-former-sensei-up-a-fucking-WALL bit of news was out.

**"I haven't been a _virgin_ in a long time."**

**

* * *

****A/N: **So...what'd you think? :) lol, again, this was typed out in like...an hour. So it probably isn't that great...like at all. But that being said, it DID take effort and I did TRY to make it somewhat readable. Not sure that I managed it all that well. But whatever, eh? Again, I'm asking: **PLEASE R AND R**. I know it's dumb to ask for validation like that, but well xD I like being validated by reviews. I don't like my work, but knowing that other people do keeps me writing. Remember that. But please **DO NOT FLAME**. It's upsetting and generally, it SUCKS. If you have constructive criticism for me, give it over :) but for the love of all things holy, don't try to raze me over stupid things. I put in time and effort. Do not belittle that.

That being said, is there any particular scene anyone wants added in? :) I mean, I have a plot (what plot?) figured out. But if there's a little domestic tidbit or internal thought or something you would like to see here, leave it to me in a review and I'll see about adding it in. Thank you for reading! *heart* See ya with an update in another two weeks~!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: SURPRISE! **Holy SHIT it's been forever. Er, I have no excuse. Well actually, I do; it's just not a very good one. Basically, I lost muse, then I lost interest in Naruto, then school work ate my life. *ponders* yeah that's about it. It's ok, I hate me too. BUT I'M BACK NOW! :D and I will be finishing this fic no matter what; it's probably only got like, four chaps left in it anyway. Anyway, in apology for the wait, here! Have 6000+ words of….plot movement? Also, some things have changed, so ignore any and all plot involving thing I said in previous chapters ploxx! Oh and the format has changed a bit, I'm not going to be bolding out my dialogue anymore.

**Warnings**: See previous chaps. Also, this might not be as 'funny' as the other two because it's a little more introspective to get the plot going. Also, this isn't beta'ed so it's bound to have a million mistakes. Forgive me. Also, also, I need to get back into Naruto groove -_- bear with me in the meantime, please? Also, **R and R**!

**Thank You's: **JESUS I can't even. This fic has so many reviews and PMs and faves and alerts and etc. -_- And one day, I will definitely sit down and thank everyone individually. But right now, it's like ass o' clock here and I need to sleep for atleast 3 hours before I go to work in my hectic pharmacy. HOORAY RETAIL MONDAY. So in general for now, **THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT AND REVIEWS. I LOVE YOU ALL.** ALSO, KEEP EM COMING! *wink*

**Shameless Self-Plug**: Ok, so, I also wrote an HP fic, MWPP in fact. Er, if anyone is a fan, they should go and read it? It's called **'The Story of a Boy Told in Six Birthdays'** and it's from Remus' POV from childhood to last year at Hogwarts! IDK if it's because I wrote badly there or it's because that fandom is effing GINORMOUS or what, but I've only got like, one review for it and 3 faves. That makes me SAD, DAMMIT! So yea, please **R and R** that too? If you get the chance? And I will love you forever~

**Disclaimer:**Is Minato alive and kicking? No? Then I don't own the series :/ all I can say is, "WAHHH!"

* * *

Kakashi was….

Well, as much as he hated to admit it, he was concerned because the second those words had come out of his mouth, Minato had _frozen_.

To be honest, Kakashi would be lying if he tried to say that he had expected this reaction; he'd be uttering the kind of blatant untruth that he'd judiciously promised himself to never speak. Because that's the exact type of shit that got people sent to hell or worse, tangled in their own web of deceit.

That or, more likely, no one would believe it.

So yes, there had been those reactions that Kakashi had expected; screaming, shouting and crying like a little girl were all responses that had been deemed a possibility, and Kakashi had done his damndest to prepare for all those eventualities.

What would have been expected would be a temper tantrum of extreme proportions from his former-sensei and, in the best case scenario, an eventual trip to the ice-cream parlor to calm the blond down. Sure, Kakashi had never been too fond of sweets, but he figured that he could maybe feed Naruto and for once, avoid atleast part of the insane mess that tended to happen when putting the two Namikaze brats into an establishment with sweets.

Hell, in case of the _worst_ case scenario, Kakashi had figured that he could bring Naruto down and make him do something ridiculously adorable, thereby appealing to the proud papa in Minato as a distraction. Then, he'd jump out the window, run – no, _sprint—_ all the way to the mountains, and live the rest of his days as a one-eyed dog whispering hermit.

Or something.

All of that aside, the point was that Kakashi'd had a solid contingency plan, and that had been more than enough to keep him aloof in Minato's arms.

Except now, well, it didn't look like it was going to happen…

The said plans could only be put into effect provided that the man reacted in the ways that he usually did, which had not happened because Minato was the biggest twat there ever was and changed his mind about shit like this more than Asuma smoked.

The older blond had officially managed to stump him; a loud and annoying Minato, well, that was easily dealt with. But a quiet and unreadable Minato…well, not so much, no.

Safe to say, Kakashi was not happy with this. Fuck, it could even be said that he was distinctly _un_happy about this, to the point where ritual suicide seemed like the safer option.

Considering the debacle with his father and the huge amounts of Childhood Trauma that had been sustained in the process, that Kakashi would half-joke about it said a lot about his state of mind.

And then, _and then_, as though to make Kakashi even _more_ paranoid, Minato simply let go of him and started to glide off towards their shared room as though he were some sort of zombie, his movements an odd mixture of robotic and sleep-deprived.

It would have been sort of funny (_hysterical_ actually) and Kakashi would have properly appreciated it if he hadn't been so damned busy trying to tamp his fight or flight reaction. Oh, that and his sudden urge to scream like a _girl _because that would make him a _girl_ and not badass, Anko's psycho-feminism be damned. Right then, the way Minato was acting was just fucking _creepy _and Kakashi reserved the right to malign the female species in the name of maintaining what little sanity he had left, godammit.

Fuck, it was _beyond creepy_ and more like hard-core _terrifying _and Kakashi had seen a lot of shit in his life (see: he's a _ninja_) so that was more than a little telling.

To be honest, Kakashi sort of wanted to curl up with the only adult whom he trusted enough to cuddle with and feel safe and sound with and…oh wait. He was running _from_ Minato now…

Right.

Shit.

If there was ever a time to panic….well…

It took some doing but, in the end, Kakashi managed to get a hold of himself. He took a fortifying breath, his lazy eyes becoming even lazier on principle, and told himself to stop being a thrice-damned _wimp_.

When that didn't work, he called upon his male pride.

When _that_ didn't work (when he realized that he'd never had much of it anyway), Kakashi recited the ninja rule book to himself en loop.

And after a few tense moments, he calmed.

He was not going to freak out, dammit. He had a reputation to maintain; and as a renowned jounin of Konoha, he had no room to be a coward. So what if he lost the only human he usually ran to for help and safety? So what if he had no idea what to do? He would persevere as he'd always done; he would thrive on adversity and continue on his own as he'd always done.

Besides, Minato had never actually been the safest of touch-stones; he had always known that. Granted, he'd never really done anything about it, per se; but he'd always known that one day, he would be horribly disappointed by the fact that his sensei really wasn't _that much_ better than him when it came to anything other than being a ninja.

He really should have seen this coming.

Having bolstered himself thusly, Kakashi bent down to clean up the broken plate pieces on the floor, deciding not to let this get to him too much. He was a ninja, not a psychiatrist and by god, he was going to act like it!

Or something.

That being said, he cleaned up and went to bed.

…sort of.

If he chose to sleep in Naruto's room that night, well, it was nobody's business but his own. Besides, the fact that he decided to bunk with the baby didn't even have anything to with him; it was because the baby was being fussy and needed the comfort. He was perfectly fine with ignoring the fact that Naruto had been dead to the world since before Kakashi had finished cleaning because dammit, because even if the little one was fine now, he wouldn't be later; he'd wake up from _something_ and cry. A lot.

Thus having convinced himself that this was all to prevent any future freak-outs on Naruto's part, Kakashi curled around his child and started to wind down.

And if he couldn't actually get to sleep until he was snuggled in with said baby…well, that was a secret between him and Naruto. No-one would ever know; Naruto couldn't talk and Kakashi had already disabled the hundred or so spy-jutsus that his former-sensei had put on the room in the name of good parenting.

The silver haired man's final thought before sleep claimed him was the hope that the next morning would be better.

* * *

Of course, because Murphy had made Kakashi his eternal bitch, the next day dawned dark, rainy and fucking _miserable_.

To the silver haired jounin, it was fucking _ominous _and spoke of the day that shall pass_._

Seriously, Kakashi was legitimately considering sacrificing some poor animal, like a goat or oh, _Gai_, to the gods because this shit? It would not fly.

Hell no.

First of all, he'd woken up plagued by numb arms, exhaustion and a crick in his neck that was reminiscent of that one time he'd spent a week in a tiny little crate; as in, fuck he was in pain and all sorts of traumatized. And then, as he'd attempted to suck it up, get up and go about his usual morning routine, he'd fucking _tripped_ over god knows what (probably toys of some sort) and proceeded to land flat on his face.

Keeping in mind that he hadn't lost his balance that spectacularly since he'd just been _learning how to walk_…well, it was safe to say that no one would ever find out about this.

And then, as though _tripping_ (of all things!) weren't enough of an ego shattering experience, he'd promptly walked into a wall where the door used to be or, as he figured out later, where there door would have been had he _slept in his room_. The situation only felt _worse_ after that little realization because his ego began to smart even more at the thought that he'd used _Naruto_ as a shield against his former-sensei's crazy.

Seriously, using _his own almost child_ as a way of enabling his _cowardice_, why did this even have to be his _life_? What the hell had he _stooped_ to?

_On top of that_, seeing as Kakashi's mental facilities hadn't been up to par since it had been now even kami knows what time in the morning, he'd spent a solid twenty (twenty!) minutes just staring _at nothing_ because he just couldn't figure out what the hell to do.

Seriously, Kakashi's ego was never going to be the same again.

Then and there, Kakashi had made a mental promise to run a hundred laps around Konoha, and then had subsequently followed through with another promise to never mention any of this to _Gai_; the idiot would probably see it as a challenge and then proceed to single-handedly ruin his penance.

Bah.

In the end, he'd managed to make to the nearest bathroom, clean himself up, and fortify himself for what was beginning to feel like a _Very Bad Day, _all caps and italics intentional.

But atleast one thing had gone well for him; he was done with his Unfit for Being Ninja moments _well_ before there was another soul awake. Granted, he lived in a home consisting of a toddler whose job was to sleep for fourteen to fifteen hours a day and an adult blond who slept late and thus woke up late; but his ego hadn't really given a damn.

And, as long as his ego was starting to feel better, Kakashi figured that the day might not be utterly wasted.

Unfortunately for him, he was still all sorts of paranoid and every little sound or creak sounded a lot like his former sensei. As a result, breakfast ended up ruined.

Of course, that's _not_ mentioning the kitchen sink, the mixer, their stash of kitchen knives, the foil, the frying pan and atleast half their good spoons…

Yeah, by that point, Kakashi was positive that his ego would not survive the _morning_, much less the _day_.

And so, with a grumble, Kakashi ran out to Ichiraku's to pick up Ramen Breakfast, something that he _rarely_ did since he was the sole controlling factor in the Namikaze household when it came to Ramen Consumption. He'd been trying to make Minato and Naruto (like father like son?) eat something Not Ramen for atleast one meal of the day, and since breakfast was supposedly the most important meal of the day, he'd targeted it as Other Foods (Yes Minato, Those _Do_ Exist) Time. But today…

Screw it. Kakashi was not even in the mood for this shit. Ramen would just have to do.

* * *

By the time Minato awoke the next morning, he'd reached several conclusions. Granted, he didn't really _like_ any of the conclusions he'd reached, but well, atleast he'd reached them.

The first thing he'd had to come to terms with (and still hadn't) was that Kakashi, as a young man, was bound to have certain…

Ugh, he couldn't even think of it in the vaguest of terms, atleast not beyond a tearfully wailed out 'dear kami-sama _whyyyy_?'

It was like Rin all over again, but way closer to home; although why he felt that way, Minato couldn't be too sure. Rin was one of his precious students as well, and was just as important as Kakashi…right?

Minato decided to derail that entire train of thought when some (a rather large) part of him rebelled at the very idea; he really didn't want to think too deeply about that one. This was mostly because he was scared shitless of where it could lead and frankly, he just wasn't equipped to deal with that crap before coffee.

And so, he skipped to his next conclusion. Well ok, this wasn't so much of a conclusion since Kakashi had flat out _confirmed_ it. But well, his young former-student…wasn't as innocent as Minato had thought.

Cue mental wailing.

_Dear Kami-sama whyyyyy?_

Anyway, this had then brought about one of two possibilities, both utterly unpleasant as far as Minato was concerned. Option One was that Kakashi had lost his virginity to someone _willingly_, which made Minato compulsively shudder for reasons he was _not going to examine, dammit_. Option Two was that he'd lost it on some mission that Minato himself had assigned, seeing as when Minato hadn't been Hokage, he'd been Kakashi's sensei and had _damned well_ made sure that they didn't get _those_ kinds of missions.

Sadly, it would be bad form for him to try the same shit now that he was Hokage. He couldn't screen his (former) team's missions anymore without making it seem like he was playing favorites.

Well…

So the reality was that Minato had never really cared one way or another; he had absolutely no problems with playing favorites and making sure that his team stayed a cut safer than the others. No, really, he'd happily live his life out as _that guy _and not give a damn.

_Kakashi_, on the other hand, definitely had a Problem for some unapparent reason; something about needing to maintain a proper image and garner respect or some other bullshit that only Kakashi would care about. Thus, Minato (unhappily and rather reluctantly) had gone with what the silver-haired jounin had wanted and had stooped to do something as mundane as 'playing fair.'

Sort of….

….after a small period of adjustment.

Ok, so he'd spent a good deal of time going, 'Dammit! Rin doesn't care; so why the hell does Kakashi?'

But actually asking Kakashi that had resulted in a dead-pan stare, and all attempts at just not giving Kakashi what he wanted had resulted in what Minato would later and not-so-fondly refer to as 'Couch-Time.' That is to say, Kakashi, the sneaky little bastard, had sealed his Chakra and had strapped him into the Contraption of Unholy Death (also known as the living room couch) for about 8 hours a night. Although how he'd managed it was anybody's guess.

Minato had always thought that it had something to do with how distracted he tended to get when his beloved pupil was holding his beloved baby boy and didn't have his mask on. The sight just warmed his heart and made it so that he was utterly defenseless against silver haired jounins and their nasty tricks. Obviously.

But, and this went without saying, Minato had caved within a week.

Either way, getting back to point, Minato honestly couldn't decide which would be worse, option one or two. So instead, he decided that enough was enough with the bad thoughts and rolled out of bed to start the day. He walked into the shower, hoping that a new day meant good things. Besides, he was a perfectly well adjusted adult; he could deal with this just like he dealt with every other thing in life that made him unhappy.

Of course, just because Minato said enough was enough didn't mean that it really was. Hell, just by the rule of his life, it was not over on principle alone. Of course, Minato would have seen the bad things coming if he'd just thought to look out the window for a few seconds. The weather alone would have tipped him off and he wouldn't have dared to climb out of bed.

As it was, the blond simply rolled out bed with a groan and proceeded to walk into the bathroom with his eyes closed, trying to prolong sleep as was his wont, which meant he was oblivious to how everything was already wrong.

To be fair, in the very beginning of the day, everything started off as it normally would; the blond made his way to the kitchen in search of coffee and sustenance. And, as per usual, Kakashi was sitting at the table with his mask down, smiling softly at Naruto as he spoke gibberish and fed the baby his breakfast. Minato smiled at the sight like he always did because it always had and always _would_ warm is heart, grabbed some coffee from the pot, and sat down to his own food.

And then, just as he decided to start up a conversation, he proceeded to choke on his own spit because holy fuck was it just him or was that _ramen_ set in front of him? As in 'I don't _care_ if it's the best thing that ever was since ever, Minato, you are not having that for _breakfast_,' honest to kami, _Ramen_ for breakfast.

Did he _die_ and go to _heaven_ while he wasn't paying attention?

Or atleast, that's what he would have thought under normal circumstances.

The thing was that it should have felt great, phenomenal even, because this was ramen for breakfast and not oatmeal or toast or kami forbid, oatmeal _and_ toast; it should have been a truly amazing moment for him. Instead, for reasons he couldn't explain no matter how hard he tried, he just felt _thrown off_. Fuck, if he were to be honest, he felt almost _let down_. He didn't even know what the hell that was about because he shouldn't be so damned upset over the fact that he wasn't being forced to swallow what Kakashi deemed to be a 'healthy breakfast.'

Except he _was_.

He only felt worse when he tried to catch Kakashi's eyes, to seek comfort and possibly explanation, and he _couldn't do it_. He didn't know what the fuck that was about either; he didn't know whether it was him or Kakashi or the both of them, but he knew on some level that it was atleast partly him.

Something just felt wrong, which was stupid because he'd felt fine two minutes ago.

"So, what're the plans for today then?" he said, the attempt at small talk sounding feeble even to his own ears. Where had his easy banter with his former-student gone? What the hell had happened to being ok with Kakashi and the revelations from the night before? Minato wasn't completely sure, but he felt that he probably wasn't reacting as well as could have been expected; he wasn't reacting as he normally would at all.

Thankfully, Kakashi, bless his proclivity for understatement, gave Minato his usual nonchalant shrug. Even in the midst of possibly being pissed off at him, Minato had to grudgingly admit that Kakashi looked cool even when he was covered in noodles and broth.

"Eh. Missions. Groceries. Sparring with Asuma later on."

The answer was relatively typical; it was an answer that Kakashi would spout on any given day because Asuma and he were best friends and sparred because they wanted to keep each other alive.

Except now, Minato had a whole new perspective on the whole thing, a perspective that made him more than a little bit angry for some inexplicable reason, pissed off enough so that he had no control over his damned mouth when he said what he did next.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it nowadays?" he asked mildly, his voice coated in venom even though he didn't mean for his words to come out that way, or to come out _at all_, "Is that why we're having ramen for breakfast then? Because you were too busy _'sparring'_ to make anything?" And then, as though he had a death wish, he ended it with,"So how many people did you 'go up against' today, then?"

Ok, so maybe he wasn't as well adjusted as he'd thought he was.

The instant he said those words, he wished he could go back in time and _rip his own damned mouth off_. What in the actual fuck was that? Oh kami, why the hell _had_ he even _said_ that? Kakashi was going to kill him.

Then again, there was a somewhat large part of him that still thought that Kakashi was too innocent to understand what he'd actually said. A quick look at the other man's face let the blond know that such hopes were futile.

Ugh.

Minato couldn't be positive, but he was relatively sure that he'd never hated himself more than he did right then.

If the look on Kakashi's face was anything to go by, he felt the same; his hand was frozen with the spoon inches from little Naruto's pouting mouth, his eyes widened with shock and cold with a small amount of rage; he looked as though he'd been slapped accross the face.

He looked _hurt_, despite trying to look anything but, his face pulling at heart-strings that Minato had thought he'd gotten rid of.

Huh, yet another misconception ripped out from under him; what else was new?

Kami, Kakashi's _face_…

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded!" Minato blurted out before he could help himself, wincing as the stupidity of the statement made its merry way into his brain.

Kakashi, for his part, became_ even colder_. "How exactly _did_ you mean that, then?" he asked, looking as though the wrong answer would both throw him into an unspeakable rage and _break him_ in ways that Minato hadn't thought possible.

That's what probably made it infinitely worse that Minato had no answer.

"I-I don't...i don't know," he managed to say, sounding every bit as bewildered as he felt, "i don't even know why I said that..."

And he didn't; he hadn't even really thought about it before his mouth had spewed the words, which was made the entire situation so much more awkward. He hadn't meant to sound so accusatory; he hadn't meant to sound like…like… He didn't even know.

_Kami_.

The panic must have shown on his face because Kakashi, bless his well-hidden, golden heart, actually went from well-justified anger to undeserved concern in a second flat.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking quizical despite still seeming angry, his hands gentle even as he stood and walked over, placing a hand on his forehead in what was probably an attempt at checking his temperature.

Kami-dammit if the concern didn't make Minato feel infinitely better about the whole thing; he found himself leaning into the touch, wrapping his arms around Kakashi's midriff and burying his face in his former-student's stomach like he'd done so many times before.

"I'm ok," Minato said, his voice muffled by skin and muscle and muscle and cloth, and a beat later, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. Really. And you don't have to make breakfast; you're not obliged at all! I appreciate that you do, though, more than you will ever know! I also love that you brought ramen for breakfast instead of the usual! Not that I hate your breakfast! Because I don't! I secretly _love _your breakfast!"

And now, he was babbling...

The only consolation there was that atleast Kakashi seemed more amused that pissed off, so hey, gift horse.

It took some doing but after he found it in himself to detach from Kakashi's person, Minato managed to inhale half his ramen without drowning himself in it like he wanted to, and without insulting the younger man any further. By the end of it, he even thought his day was looking up again.

Hell, he was almost out the door when the world decided that it hated him once more, taking every bad karma point he'd ever earned in his life –line of duty or not— and proverbially dick-punching him.

Of course.

Just as he was leaving, Kakashi looked up with a gentle smirk, creating the momentary illusion that things were back to normal and making Minato feel all floaty inside, before continuing onward with, "You can rest easy, sensei; I wouldn't be able to _spar_ with that many people anyway."

Son of a_ bitch…._

The younger man had meant it to be an admonishment wrapped up in a small joke; granting him forgiveness and giving him the proverbial newspaper to the nose while still letting him know that he was loved. Minato knew this.

Unfortunately, the only thing it _did_ accomplish was to make the pit of Minato's stomach drop out and fill with hate towards anyone who'd ever done anything with his young student.

Except, his treacherous mind kept whispering, Kakashi really wasn't that young anymore, was he?

GAH. What the hell was _wrong_ with the world?

It was with that depressing thought and with no small amount of poorly hidden rage, that Minato finally ran out of his home and made his way to work. He made sure to take to the roofs of Konoha; he was too pissed off to use Hiraishin like he normally would.

He wouldn't burn any frustration off if he did.

* * *

The day didn't get any better from there.

Everything kept going wrong; there was problem after problem after problem and even about two hours in, Minato was about ready to rip his hair out.

And then, as though that weren't bad enough, there were _problems_.

Mostly, there were_ problems_ involving Minato categorizing every nin he talked to as either 'has _sparred_ with Kakashi' or 'hasn't _sparred_ with Kakashi,' which then resulted in acts of revenge which may or may not have been of the more violent nature.

To boot, the very first person that that had happened with was _Asuma_ of all people which, in addition to the happenings of the day before, put the young chuunin in a Bad Position, if there was ever one.

Suffice it to say, Minato's shark-like grin alone had done things to Asuma's constitution that not even his _father_ had managed. But by the time Minato was done casually insinuating the Things That Would Happen if the young Sarutobi didn't stay away from his precious former student—most of which involved sly hints about _important bits_ and making it so he was banned from every _cigarette selling establishment in the country_—Asuma was about ready to cry.

It was a broken man that walked out of the Hokage's office; it was a man who swore to never be around Kakashi again if he could avoid it.

Minato was more than satisfied.

The next person happened about two hours later, just as the blond Hokage's frustration was mounting; Kurenai Yuhi was the next unlucky victim to suffer. Minato had taken one look at her skimpy dress, sneered, and then had proceeded to make her life a living hell for the five minutes that followed. He ended that one with a standing order to _keep her hussy self away from Kakashi_, _or else_. He didn't allow himself to go too far though because, let's face it, this was a woman and even in the deepest pits of rage, Minato had some amount of respect. So, accusations of whoredom and mentioning that her missions would only consist of her life's calling (again, whoredom) were things that weren't on the list of things he would do to her if she didn't heed his warnings.

But still, by the time he was done, Kurenai _was_ crying.

Wimp.

Minato didn't really feel satisfied with that one, but it was an unpleasant necessity as far as he was concerned.

And then, when it was that fucking green kid—what was his name again? Oh yeah— _Gai's_ turn, Minato had just had a truly spectacular spat with village elders. And then the damned kid had come sprinting into his office, screaming about "the spring time of _youth_" and sparkling everywhere like glitter was going out of style, and had proceeded to ask him as to Kakashi's whereabouts so that they could "_spar_! And indulge in the manly sport of _mud-wrestling_ while only wearing _fundoshi!_"

And well, Minato had lost it; he hadn't allowed the boy another sparkling word before he was punching him clear out of Hokage Tower, screaming at the green dot in the sky to _keep his creepy rapist self away from Kakashi, dammit._

All things considered, he'd been feeling somewhat satisfied with himself, when person number four had happened along.

It was safe to say that Anko had been less than happy to be ordered to stop ruining Kakashi by being around him all the time. In fact, the only thing that would have made things even clearer was if the punch she'd aimed for him had _actually landed_.

Thankfully, Sarutobi had stepped in because otherwise, there would have been bloodshed. As it was, Anko had tossed him the foulest of glares as she'd walked out, head held high and her fingers out in the two finger salute, and Minato had the passing thought that he should watch out for things that go bump on the night for a little while.

Or would that be things that _hiss_ in the night?

Ugh, whatever.

Either way, when Minato came out of his slightly fatalistic musings, —wherein he was contemplating the need to keep Anko away from Kakashi versus his need to survive with his balls intact— he was faced with Sarutobi and his Truly Disappointed EyesTM.

Like any man who had once had an adult figure or spouse (or in Minato's case, partner in raising his child) Disappointed in him, Minato instantly shuddered and began to think out possible escape scenarios.

But he had no such luck.

Before he could Hiraishin his way to freedom, Sarutobi quickly activated the chakra suppressing seals that littered the room and did the dignified old man equivalent of _sitting on him_ till he screamed uncle.

In other words, he sat and stared his most unimpressed stare until Minato cracked like bone under one of the Akimichi clan's super-size techniques.

Damn his life.

"Minato," the old man drawled once he was sure of his victory, a smirk on his face that could only be perfected over the course of raising multiple children and _winning every argument_ there ever was, "is everything alright? Word is that you're being a complete terror today."

The younger blond couldn't help but feel insulted because the esteemed Sarutobi was using the voice universally used by parents with recalcitrant children. He was too old for that kind of shit now, dammit! It wasn't _fair_.

He was just about to retort that he had no idea what the hell the old man was going on about, just on principle because _dammit_ that tone _rankled_, when he found himself blurting out everything that had happened instead.

Darn it, he never had been able to resist the parental figure thing; he even sort of wanted to be cuddled and told that everything would be ok and yes Minato, it is perfectly acceptable to lock your beloved protégé away from the universe until he was _married_.

The former Hokage raised his eyebrow, incredulity and hilarity making for an insulting combination as he said, "I see."

Oops; the blond had the feeling that he'd said that last bit out loud.

Well, if he'd made an ass of himself, he wanted his damned cuddles too dammit!

Sarutobi raised a wizened eyebrow before settling on the couch and opening his arms in clear invitation.

Minato didn't even bother to feel embarrassed before he was burrowing himself into his predecessor's side and blurting out all his confusion, only pausing for a moment to snap at the next person to come in his door to _get the fuck out_ before he was back to baring his soul.

"It's been that way since last night and I think I hurt Kakashi's feelings by saying things I shouldn't have. I have no idea why I'm acting like this, I really don't," he finished, misery painting his every word.

To his credit, Sarutobi lasted throughout the entire rant before he said anything, merely nodding along in that wise way of his. Minato seriously spent a moment wishing that this man was his actual father, feeling almost wistful in that respect because it would have been really nice to have that when he was younger and confused about puberty in general.

"So let me get this straight," the old man said when it seemed as though Minato's speech had come to a close, "you want everyone to stay away from Kakashi."

Minato nodded miserably.

Sarutobi blinked before continuing onward, his voice getting more delicate with each word, "Because you think that as your," and here he coughed a little to hide his amusement, "_partner_ in raising your child, he should be more family oriented and less…."

"Of a target for two-bit whores," Minato supplied helpfully, before continuing hastily, "Naruto thinks of him as mama and it wouldn't do for him to see his beloved mother being chased around by the absolute _heathens_ that run wild around this place."

"Right…" the Sandaime Hokage paused for a second, "Does Kakashi know that you're training your spawn to think of Kakashi as his Mother?"

Minato pointedly looked away; he'd have whistled innocently but the Academy had taught him early on that that move only worked in particular cases.

He didn't think this particular case was one of those.

Sarutobi, for his part, just shook his head, "You are aware that you seem more than a little bit psychotic in your quest to protect Kakashi's nonexistent chastity. Yes?"

And then, just as Minato was about to unleash his righteous fury on the former Hokage for his slanderous words in a bid to defend his precious student's honor, the old man sighed, looking tired as though _he_ were the one doing all the work. Minato did not appreciate this.

"Don't answer that," the old man said, "it was purely rhetorical. But, you understand that you're only fooling yourself?"

Minato simply gave Sarutobi an annoyed look before switching it with his blankest one, putting on the best of his 'I have no idea what the fuck you're on about' faces.

Sarutobi sighed, before talking as he would if he were talking to a particularly stubborn four-year-old, "How do you feel about the idea of Kakashi being with someone _else_?"

Minato spared a thought for the odd emphasis that the old man had placed in his words before deciding to ignore that and turn to more important matters at hand. "I thought that was what this was about," he hissed out unhappily, "I don't want him dating anyone!"

The old man winced before seeming to regroup and trying a different tack, "Alright, then. Minato, how would you describe the family dynamics?"

He was rewarded with another blank look, "The family what?"

The former Hokage nearly rolled his eyes, barely stopping himself before beginning to prompt, "You're the dad…." He made a 'go on' gesture, flapping his hand in a vague attempt at getting Minato to continue the thought.

Said man hesitantly did so, "I'm the dad. Kakashi is the mom. Naruto is the baby?"

Sarutobi nodded encouragingly, his voice turning gentle, "You're a smart man, Minato Namikaze; I know you can figure this out. But, in the spirit of helpful hints, might I suggest some introspection?" And before the younger man could interrupt, "What I mean is: what does that dynamic actually mean to you? And maybe, just maybe, that article in that last sentence of yours should be a pronoun?"(1)

Minato blinked, feeling as though he were on the cusp of something important, like something was at the very edge of his brain and was waiting to come out, "What…do you…"

"Just," the Sandaime Hokage interrupted, sounding regal and gentle and dammit, still like the sort of person that Minato wanted for a dad despite his being unfair in general, "when you go home tonight, really _look_ at what you have. What's that you're always saying? Look underneath the underneath. And then, when you figure that out, work out what you have to do to _keep it_. My advice? I'd suggest not taking out your confusion on Kakashi, for starters."

He got up with a groan, looking every bit the doting old man as he patted Minato's head, a small smile on his face, "You're the only two who haven't figured it out yet though, I think, you and Kakashi. Everyone else saw it a long time ago."

And with that he was gone, walking out and leaving an incredibly confused Minato in his wake.

But then, maybe the old man had a point, Minato decided; maybe he just needed to look a little harder.

Ugh, how was this even his life?

* * *

(1) Er, IDK if this is actually understandable, so I thought I'd explain it. Minato's last sentence was Naruto is _the_ baby. In that case, 'the' is the specifying definite article which precedes a proper noun. When Sarutobi says that it should be switched with a pronoun, he means that 'the' should be replaced with 'ours' or something else to that affect. IDK if that came across well so I thought I'd ramble about it here. *smile*

**End Notes**: I hope you enjoyed! And please **R and R**! Reviews keep me writing! And please don't flame -_- concrit is good. Flaming is not good. So yes.


End file.
